1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the fields of electronic mail, information processing, and provision of services over computer networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Providers of information—whether it be lines of computer code or a digital photograph—face a difficult process when selling their product to customers. The providers can quite easily send their information product to customers (electronic mail makes such transfers almost instantaneous), but collecting the corresponding payment is considerably more complicated.
Collecting payment for information is complicated because once the information has been sent, it cannot be “returned.” For instance, if an information provider sells the right to view a digital photograph, the photograph is sent to the customer and is viewed. Once it has been received and viewed, the photograph can be sent back, but the viewing has already taken place. So while the customer could claim dissatisfaction with the photograph and send it back, the value has already been transferred and cannot be “returned.” For this reason, the standard mechanism of sending a product and collecting payment for it afterwards is inadequate.
In the physical world, this problem is solved by forcing customers to pay for information before they view it. Customers wishing to view a film, for instance, must pay the entrance fee before entering the theater.
In the online world, similar processes have been attempted. Customers wishing to view the information for sale at a web site must pay for a subscription before being granted access to the site.
The mechanics of this subscription model, however, are too unwieldy to be used for direct marketing. For instance, a stockbroker seeking to direct-market his stock picks to a customer would have to first send marketing materials to the customer advertising his stock picks. Then the customer would have to go to the stockbroker's web site and purchase a subscription. Then the stock picks would be sent to the customer. Not only does this process require several steps at different locations; it is also unrealistic that a customer would buy an entire subscription for a single piece of information.
There is currently no device available that enables providers of information to direct-market a single piece of information and fulfills the marketing, delivery, and billing functions in one simple step.